


Found Found Found

by Das_verlorene_Kind



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 05:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Das_verlorene_Kind/pseuds/Das_verlorene_Kind
Summary: Pete is cryptic, Patrick is oblivious, and there may or may not be a marriage proposal that's based on miscommunication, failure, and terrible fashion choices.





	Found Found Found

**Author's Note:**

> I'm afraid I'm made up of at least 80% angst, but y'know, once in a while, I get tired of my own bullshit and want to do something else. This is the result. Title from a Morrissey song of the same name bc why not, Morrissey songs are always appropriate.  
> Thanks to @SelketsChild for being such a patient Beta reader as always!~  
> Artwork done by me.

 

 

Patrick hates the ring.

It’s just so _ugly,_ and an insult to the eye. It’s big, golden, and in the middle of it thrones a big black onyx, the ugliest of all stones. It looks ridiculous, especially when its posh elegance stands in stark contrast to Pete’s less than elegant fashion choices. It is wrong, completely out of place, and just so ugly, ugly, _ugly_.

And worst of all, it’s on Pete’s ring finger, and it won’t go away.

 

Pete claims it’s a “family tradition”, a piece of jewelry passed down from generation to generation. Patrick reminds him of the watch that Pete’s father gave him – which Patrick is certain falls under the same category of “family tradition” – and which Pete never wears.

“Since when do you of all people care about family tradition, anyway?” Patrick asks irritated.

Pete just rolls his eyes. “You don’t get it, Patrick,” he says nonchalantly, while twisting the ring in question around his finger. “This is something different.”

Why exactly this is something different, Pete doesn’t care to elaborate. Patrick has a feeling he’s supposed to ask, but he doesn’t want to give Pete the satisfaction of letting him know just how much this stupid ring bothers him. So he says nothing, but he sees Pete’s grin hovering in his mind, right next to this ugly piece of jewelry.

 

People start to notice, of course. Not surprisingly, as Pete makes sure to never take it off. The damn ring appears in every picture, every video, everywhere; Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, everywhere Pete goes the ring goes with him, a pesky little stain on his finger.

And people start to gossip, of course. This too doesn’t come as a surprise. They put two and two together and got all kinds of results.

 _Engaged, married, a secret drug container, proof that Pete Wentz is the leader of a cult_ – all kinds of explanations are made. Though strangely, the engagement and marriage rumors seem to be the most popular ones.

Pete never outright confirms or denies any of the rumors, and never replies to any questions regarding the ring. Patrick stays away from social media for the most part anyways, so he just silently hopes this farce will be over soon.

 

 

But eventually, even the label’s publicist brings it up them. “You could have told me about this,” she says sourly. “Maybe you could let me know how to handle the press about this?” She makes an ugly noise of irritation, and Patrick cringes. “You really got engaged? So, when’s the wedding?”

“Oh, we haven’t planned anything. So, not anytime soon!” Pete replies with a bright smile, before Patrick can say that there is no wedding at all –  to _his_ knowledge, at least. “Unless, Patrick, you have something planned for the immediate future?” Pete’s grin gets even wider as he looks at Patrick, who just looks more pissed and embarrassed than before.

Why is everyone taking this ring so seriously, Patrick would like to know? And that obnoxious grin is pure mockery. Patrick knows that Pete knows him well enough to realize just how annoyed he is right now. But Patrick is unwilling to participate in this silly little charade, and he’s definitely not going to give this stupid jewelry any more underserved attention.

“All I’m planning is to punch you, Pete. Hard,” Patrick says through gritted teeth.

Pete remains unfazed, just turns back to the slightly confused looking publicist. “Oh, don’t worry. We’re fine. We’d just like to keep things private, like before.” Before _what_? Patrick wants to ask, but Pete doesn’t give him a chance to speak up as he simply continues: “That’s all I want to say on this matter now. So, can we continue?”

The publicist nods, and changes the topic. The topic of engagement isn’t brought up anymore, and Patrick could almost forget about it if not for the slight suspicion that all this somehow was interpreted very, very wrong.

 

 

“So,” Andy asks one day, “you guys got engaged behind our backs?”

 Patrick almost chokes on his tea. “What the hell, Andy? No, of course not.”

“Would you care to finally explain this ring situation, then? I’ve already been asked by fans, friends and even family members to make sure to send you two their regards and congratulations on the engagement, and I find myself falling short on any actual explanations.” Andy eyes Patrick, who just snorts and sets his tea cup aside.

 

“I’d like to know, too,” Joe chimes in, and Patrick gets the slight suspicion that his friends are ganging up on him. This conversation seems a little too planned. “Are you really getting married? What happened, is someone pregnant?”

 

“No one is pregnant,” Patrick retorts annoyed. “And it’s not an engagement ring. Do you think I have such poor taste in jewelry?”

 

Neither Andy nor Joe answer that, but they keep looking at him, and Patrick knows he’s not getting away without some sort of explanation.

“It’s a gift from his father. ‘Family tradition’, apparently,” Patrick replies, struggling (and failing) to keep the sarcasm from his voice.

Andy is still looking at him, and raises an eyebrow in disbelief. “That doesn’t sound like Pete at all.”

“Indeed,” Patrick sighs and shakes his head. “Just ignore it. It’s just one of his subtle ploys to get attention. He’ll get bored, and find something else to wear.”

“What kind of attention?” Joe inquires, “And why the hell does it involve a ring?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Patrick answers truthfully. Suddenly, the room’s atmosphere feels loaded with a strange tension. Andy looks away, and Joe makes a non-committal noise that Patrick cannot quite identify as good, bad, or an unpleasant way in between.

“Maybe you should talk to Pete,” Andy says as he turns back to Patrick, who can’t shake off the feeling that his friends know more than he does.

“Uh, sure.” Patrick turns away from Andy’s silent gaze, and sighs. _To hell with this goddamn ring_.

 

 

“This needs to stop.” It’s the first thing that comes out of Patrick’s mouth when he comes back home and enters the living room, where Pete is lazing around on the couch. Patrick points at Pete’s hand. “Really, Pete. It’s starting to get ridiculous. And I’m goddamn tired of having to explain your childish clinging to this ring.”

“I already told you, Patrick,” Pete says softly, and the way he talks to Patrick, as if he were a little child throwing an unreasonable tantrum, is simply infuriating. “It’s family tradition. And a ring can be a very powerful symbolic gesture, you know.”

“Since when do you care about that at all? Seriously, am I missing something here?” Patrick can feel his voice getting a little too loud; this whole conversation is already starting off wrong.

“Damn it, Patrick, would you calm down? Why do you hate the poor ring so much?”

 

 _The poor ring?_ , Patrick wonders, irrational anger overcoming him. It’s an inanimate object. _He’s_ the one Pete should preface with the word ‘poor’, seriously. This situation (unlike the ring) is getting out of hand.

 

“Because it’s ugly as sin, and you’re only wearing it to piss me off. Mission accomplished, so you can stop taunting me by shoving it in my face now, okay?” Patrick finds himself getting more and more angry, his words are getting meaner and his voice is getting louder and louder. _Just like a little child throwing an unreasonable tantrum_. He pushes that thought aside. He has every right to be upset.

“Stop being so self-absorbed. Maybe I wear it because I like it? Our sense of fashion differs quite a bit, so excuse me for being less conservative in my likings. And maybe I wear it because it means something to me? A ring can hold very special meaning, you know.”

Patrick gasps. “ _You_ are telling _me_ to stop being self-absorbed?!”

Pete narrows his eyes, and replies: “I’m telling you to stop being an idiot about it, Patrick.” He exits the living room, and closes the door behind him with just a little too much force.

 

 _Fucking drama queen_ , Patrick thinks angrily, but he doesn’t feel any wiser than before. Just more confused, like he’s missing a vital piece of information that everyone refuses to give him.

 

 

Pete doesn’t stop wearing the ring. Therefore, neither the subtle questions nor the arguments stop either.

 

“Care to explain why it bothers you so much, Patrick?” Pete asks during one of the frequent discussions.

“I just don’t like it,” Patrick answers weakly, eyeing the damned golden band with a sigh. He’s running out of explanations, and he feels tired of hearing and talking about this pesky piece of jewelry.

Pete winks at him, a mischievous grin lighting up his eyes. “If you don’t like it, give me a better one.”

“You’re a grown-ass man with more than enough money to pay for your own jewelry,” Patrick retorts. No way he’s going to reward this ridiculous behavior in any form.

 

Pete stares at him in silence. Patrick stares back, and as the seconds pass the silence gets increasingly uncomfortable. Patrick fiddles with his glasses; he is not really sure what else Pete expects him to say. Patrick still feels to be missing some vital information here.

“Damn it, Patrick,” Pete blurts out suddenly, “you really don’t get it, do you?”

“Get _what_?!” Patrick yells, fed up with being clueless and fed up with this cryptic conversations. “That you’re using this ring as a cheap way to get undeserved attention from everyone?”

“I don’t want attention from _everyone_ , just _you_.” Pete crosses his arms in front of his chest, and eyes his boyfriend again.

“Fine,” Patrick says, his harsh tone indicating that absolutely nothing is fine, “you have all my attention, so explain yourself now.”

 

Pete hesitates, his anger replaced by nervousness now. “I pretty much just asked you to buy me a ring, Patrick. I thought the implication behind that is fairly obvious.”

 

Patrick blinks. One, two, three seconds pass, and then he finally realizes.

 

_Oh._

 

 _Oh, fuck_.

 

“Did you just… Propose proposing to you…?” Patrick lets out a nervous laughter, and suddenly the simple act of breathing turns into a much harder task than ever before. Pete exhales slowly, running his hand through his hair and looking at everything in the room except Patrick.

 

Four, five, six seconds pass, and Patrick feels a lump in his throat, and the air in his lungs seems to turn into liquid fire, burning him from the inside. Maybe he’s wrong, maybe he misread the situation completely, maybe Pete will burst into laughter the next second and Patrick will spontaneously combust into flames, dying from sheer misery and embarrassment.

Seven, eight, nine seconds later, Patrick is still alive and Pete looks him in the eye, a mixture of a million emotions scrunching up his face.

 

“Yes, Patrick,” Pete finally mutters, and uncrosses his arms. “I… I kind of did. I kind of tried to do that for the past few weeks, actually." He absentmindedly reaches for his beringed hand, tugging at the golden band. Patrick has never felt so much hate for an inanimate object before.

 

“You are kidding me, right?” Patrick asks, letting out a nervous laughter.

“Am not,” Pete replies after an unnerving amount of silence.

“Since when is marriage up for discussion?” Patrick asks, feeling tension rising. When has the world moved on without him, and since when does his boyfriend care for traditional vows and labels?

“Don’t be an idiot, Patrick. Of course I want to marry you, I’ve wanted to since forever. I just wasn’t sure how _you_ felt about it. You never made any moves. You never seemed to care. You don’t really talk about it with me, ever. I wanted you to get out of your comfort zone for once, and open the channels of communications, at least.”

“You – you want to get married?” Patrick’s throat feels tight, and his voice sounds unusually high to him. “Why is this the first time we are seriously discussing this? And why didn’t _you_ just propose, then?”

Pete scoffs, crossing his arms in front of his chest again. “Don’t you get it, Patrick? I was sure I want to marry you; I wasn’t –“ He hesitates, “I wasn’t sure about you.”

 

Silence is all Patrick can come up with as an answer.

 

Pete clears his throat, and continues: “I wasn’t sure if _you_ wanted to marry _me_ . So, I thought, the easiest way to make sure that you want marriage is to have _you_ propose it. This way… This way I could be sure you want it. This way, you couldn’t say no.”

 

“You were afraid I’d say _no_?” Patrick spats out, suddenly forgetting all his own insecurities.

 

Pete winces. “I don’t-“

 

But Patrick’s had enough. He is furious, angry, and unwilling to listen to any of the stupid nonsense that is coming out of Pete’s mouth.

“This whole thing is ridiculous,” he harshly interrupts Pete, “it’s insulting, childish, and I can’t even believe this is happening! You don’t trust in our relationship enough to propose to me? You relish in all the attention the stupid engagement rumors gave you, but you believe so little in me and my love for you to think that I would say ‘ _no_ ’, and not even try asking? Fuck you, Pete.”

 

Pete opens his mouth, presumably for yet another try to explain this exceptionally awful situation, but Patrick isn’t listening. His mind is blank, the surroundings blurring into swirls of color, all of Pete’s words are mushing into an incomprehensible noise, drowned out by the sound of Patrick’s heart beating louder, faster, harder than ever before, to the point where each heartbeat feels like a jolt of pain in his chest.

 

This isn’t happening, can’t be happening, none of this is happening.

 

_He thinks I’d say no._

 

Unwanted, unwarranted tears burn in Patrick’s eyes as he leaves the room, and grabs his coat.

 

Pete doesn’t attempt to hold him back.

 

 

 

Patrick arrives at Andy’s feeling like a complete mess.

 

“So,” Andy says, alarmingly unfazed at the sight of his confused, teary-eyes friend, as if he had seen it coming. “I assume you and Pete had a talk?”

Patrick sniffles, lets out an incoherent string of words, and makes his way inside.

 

Joe is here, too; apparently, the world decided that everyone needs to be a witness of Patrick’s mental breakdown.

 

“So,” Joe inquires, “what happened?” Andy gestures him to shush, while simultaneously managing to get off Patrick’s coat and mumble some soothing words to him. He gently guides Patrick to the coach, sits him down, and after a while, Patrick manages to calm down enough to regain his ability to form proper sentences.

 

 

“Let me repeat – _he_ is sure about wanting to get married, but he isn’t sure if _you_ want to get married. And to ensure that, Pete wanted you to propose and show that you too want marriage,” Joe sums up after Patrick is done. Joe shakes his head in disbelief. “That is such a dumb thing to do.”

 

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Patrick sighs, and Joe gives him a sympathetic pat on the back.

 

Andy shrugs, not looking very surprised and mildly amused. “It’s a very Pete-like thing to do. Very cryptic, unnecessarily complicated, and with questionable levels of communication skills.”

 

“I guess now I’m half-engaged and semi-single,” Patrick replies bitterly.

 

“Patrick, this isn’t funny. You need to talk this out. Like actual adults. You know, that thing that both of you forget you are sometimes?” Andy looks at him, and sighs. “Seriously though. Marriage isn’t something to take lightly, and you two have been through some rough times. And quite frankly, Patrick, while I love you – you’re not always the most open about your feelings, either.”

“He could have just asked me. Or at least, talked to me about it,” Patrick mutters.

Joe rolls his eyes. “When has he ever _just talked_ about anything?”

Patrick glares at him, but can’t deny the truth behind both their statements. Maybe, it’s not just the ring’s fault that this whole situation happened in the first place.

 

He sighs again, before a nagging suspicion befalls him. He looks at Andy. “How come you’re not surprised at all? Did he talk to any of you about this?”

Andy just shakes his head. “No, but I suspected something like this. Come on, it’s kind of obvious,” he laughs. “I’ve known him for over a decade, was in his band, shared a big part of my life with him – somewhere along the lines, I got to know a bit about Pete, too.”

 

“So, you aren’t the least bit surprised that our engagement, the proposal to get _married_ and bound until death do us apart, could be based on miscommunication, failure, and terrible fashion choices?!” Patrick feels torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to cry, or maybe a little bit of both.

“Well, _I_ think it’s totally typical of your relationship,” Joe says with a shrug, which earns him an elbow to the side from Patrick.

 

“You _are_ married, Joe. Tell me, how the hell do I do this?!”

 

“Well, there’s a reason I’m not married to _Pete_ ,” Joe scoffs. But the mere mention of his wife still lights up his face, and his words are followed by a soft smile. No doubt he’s thinking back to his proposal, the moment that Marie, his _wife,_ said yes, and it shows.. _Fucker._

 

Joe’s eyes widen in realization and excitement. “Wait. You’re really thinking about proposing, then?”

 

“Only so I can finally get this goddamn ring out of my sight, and preferably out of my life,” Patrick sighs, trying his best to sound totally calm and collected about this. But the way Patrick smiles causes Joe and Andy to exchange a knowing look. “Of course I would. I love him, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I just didn’t really think we needed to get married to prove that. And I didn’t think Pete would care about marriage in the first place. So I never really bothered thinking much about it.”

“I’m getting you some couples’ counseling as a wedding gift!” Joe grins, and it earns him another elbow to the side and an indignant huff from Patrick. “Either way,” he continues, unfazed, “Each couple needs to find their own way to work things out. I mean, I have no trouble talking about my engagement with Marie with you, and you know how much I love her! But that won’t be any help to you. This is between you and Pete alone. You’re gonna have to find your own way, and I’m afraid it involves going back to Pete and talking things out.”

 

Andy nods. “Please, go talk to him. We know you love each other, and I am sure you can work this out.”

“Yeah, you better go and fix this, Patrick.” Joe looks at him, now with a certain level of uncomfortableness in his eyes.

“No matter how this turns out, we love you,” Andy says carefully.

 

Patrick feels like laughing hysterically and throwing up at the same time.

 

 

Eventually, Patrick goes home. _Their_ home, at least he hopes it still is. Everything is silent, and when he calls out Pete’s name, there’s no response. Kitchen and living room are empty, but the bedroom door is shut.

Patrick knocks softly on the door to the bedroom. He feels a bit silly – after all, this is still his house, too. He swallows; at least it’s his _for now_ , and only if this conversation turns out right. He doesn’t even want to think of what he will lose if he fucks this up – certainly more than just the house.

He doesn’t hear any reply, but he doesn’t hear being denied entry either. He carefully opens the door, and scans the room. His heart skips a beat when it falls on the familiar figure of Pete.

Pete is sitting cross-legged on the bed, fidgeting with his phone. He puts it away once he hears the door shutting, but he doesn’t look at Patrick. Instead, he focuses on staring on the wall, while Patrick’s eyes are nervously roaming around and looking at everything but his – well, boyfriend? Ex-boyfriend? Faux fiancé?

 

“So, uhm,” Patrick start nervously, and crosses his arms in front of his chest. His voice is thin, and the air is thick with tension. “I think we should talk.”

“Yeah,” Pete says, but stays silent, and his eyes stay fixed on the bed now. Patrick shifts uncomfortably, not knowing how to start this conversation.

 

“You don’t want to get married to me?” Pete blurts out, his fingers tracing random patterns on the sheets. He looks kind of lost, and Patrick wants to sit down next to him, snag his hands to stop the nervous gesture, he wants to hold him and tell him how much he loves him and that everything will be fine. But it doesn’t seem to be appropriate right now, and Patrick suspects he might have to go for actual words and explanations here.

 

“That’s not it,” Patrick tries to explain, “But I wouldn’t want our engagement to be a public event, or something done because we felt the _need_ to. If I were to marry you, I want to do it because I love you, and because we made the conscious, rational decision to spend the rest of our lives together. That – that’s kind of a big deal. It’s not a cheap ploy for attention, and it’s not something to joke about.”

“I didn’t mean it as a joke, Patrick, and I never wanted to abuse it simply for getting attention. How could you ever think that?” Pete sounds hurt, offended almost.

“Then why this whole overly complicated set up with the ring?” Patrick asks.

 

Silence settles between them, but for the first time in this conversation, Pete lifts his head and looks Patrick in the eye. To his surprise, there’s a small, sheepish grin on his lips.

 

“Actually,” Pete starts to confess, “I didn’t exactly plan that. It just kind of happened on its own.”

Patrick raises his eyebrows in disbelief. “And how exactly did _that_ happen?”

 

“I didn’t put much thought behind it, I just decided to wear the ring for fun, just one time. But then, someone from the label mistook it for an engagement ring and congratulated me,” Pete continues. “I waved it off. When I posted a picture later that day, I had already forgotten that I was still wearing it. But people noticed it, and when friends and strangers on the internet messaged me with questions, homophobic slurs, and congratulations, well… I realized it wasn’t a coincidence.” Pete shrugs. “Apparently, grown people can’t wear jewelry anymore without any intentions behind it.”

 

“Yeah, I noticed,” Patrick says with a small sigh.

 

“So, I kept wearing it. I just wanted to push you a little. See how you’d react to the idea of being engaged.”

“I can’t believe people thought I’d pick out such an ugly ring,” Patrick groans.

 

“Patrick, I’m sorry. I – I let this get a little out of hand, maybe.”

 

“Yeah, a little. A _lot_ , actually. You know, it really hurt me that you’d rather trick people into thinking we _might_ be engaged than actually _talking_ to your fake fiancé about it.”

 

“It was easier this way, without worrying about being rejected. Safer. You know me, Patrick…”

 

“Sadly, I do,” Patrick says, but he cannot hide a smile forming on his lips. Pete remains silent for once, unsure of Patrick’s reaction. “You’re an idiot, and a fool, and you always overthink everything and worry way too much. But you’re my fool, and I love you no matter what.” Patrick shyly extends his arm, and Pete scoops closer to take his hand. “And I’m sorry, too,” Patrick adds, biting his lip as he feels the faint heat of embarrassment painting his cheeks bright red. “I overreacted.” He sighs, and sits down next to Pete.

“It’s okay,” Pete grins, “I know that you have a short temper, and you’re adorably oblivious sometimes, and you’re pretty stubborn on top of that.” Patrick opens his mouth to protest, but Pete presses his finger against his lips, unwilling to let another argument unfold. Usually, Patrick wouldn’t tolerate being shut down like this, but the situation is anything but usual.

 

“I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Don’t you want that, too?” Pete removes his finger from Patrick’s mouth, obviously eager to hear the answer.

 

“Oh Pete,” Patrick sighs and pats Pete’s shoulder, “of course I do! It just never really occurred to me that we needed to get married to prove that. Even if we hadn’t ended up as a couple, there was no way I would – or could – have ever gotten rid of you. I always knew I’d be stuck with you for the rest of my life anyway.”

“Thanks a lot. Very romantic,” Pete snorts, and turns away. “You really suck at declarations of love, Patrick, you know that?”

 

“Pete, I didn’t mean it in a bad way, I –” Patrick makes a helpless gesture with his hands. “Well, I’m sorry! It’s not like I ever proposed to someone before.”

 

“You – you what?” Pete turns back to him, and crosses his arms in front of his chest. He stares at Patrick with wide eyes and an almost comical expression. But he regains his composure in an amazingly short time. “Well, Patrick,” he says shakily, “first, you should go down on one knee.”

“Come on, that is such a cliché.” Patrick rolls his eyes. He almost regrets not just going straight to the question, and simply skipping all the awkwardness that the stuff upfront is now causing him.

“It’s _my_ engagement, too! Please?” Pete looks at him with the biggest puppy eyes he can make, and Patrick already knows he’s lost. He sighs, stands up from the bed, and goes down on one knee. Pete is still sitting on the edge of the bed, grinning down at him. He has the slight suspicion that Pete is enjoying this part for all the wrong reasons, and Patrick is glad he loves his hopefully soon-to-be fiancé so much, because otherwise, Pete’s face would be pretty punchable right now.

 

Patrick shakes his head, and tries to get into a more romantic mood. Maybe it would have been better to go the clichéd route, propose over a nice dinner with champagne, or somewhere at the beach with tropical cocktails and moonlight. Not in their bedroom while he’s kneeling between dirty shirts and socks that haven’t found their way to the laundry bin yet.

 

“Pete, I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you, every day. Maybe not quite literally, we can both be a bit annoying from time to time, too stubborn for our own goods, and –“ Pete looks at him with furrowed brows, and Patrick stops and shakes his head. This is all going so wrong. He clears his throat, starting his speech again: “Pete, I love you. Please marry me. Right now, preferably, before any of us can say any more stupid things.”

There is a moment of silence, in which Pete covers his mouth with his hand, saying nothing. For a terrifyingly long second Patrick is afraid that maybe, Pete will say no, maybe this is all an elaborate joke, maybe he did it wrong and it’s too late to do it right, maybe –

 

“Yes, Patrick, of course I’ll marry you!” Pete finally says, the words slightly muffled because he’s still covering his mouth with his trembling hand. “Of course, Patrick, of course, yes, yes!”

It’s not his most elaborate sentence, but it’s the most important one Pete has ever produced.

 

“Can I get up now?” Patrick asks, and Pete just mumbles a “yes” and “come here please”.

Patrick stands up, only to be dragged down on the bed by Pete, who presses a kiss on his mouth and somehow manages to maneuver Patrick to straddle his lap at the same time. Patrick kisses back, still a little dumbfounded and overwhelmed with what just happened, until Pete pulls away and eyes him with excitement.

“You are still going to buy me a ring, Patrick, right?” He’s trying to pull the puppy face again, looking up to Patrick with big eyes and poking his index finger into Patrick’s chest like an impatient child. Though the tears shimmering in his eyes might not be part of the act.

 

“Whatever. Fine. But only to get rid of the sight of this one, though,” Patrick says and gestures towards the ring in question, but he can’t keep the smile out of his voice. “And don’t think I’ll trust your taste in fashion enough to let you pick out the wedding bands all by yourself, either.”

Pete nods and buries his head in Patrick’s chest, and Patrick is pretty sure he can feel hot, wet tears through his shirt.

 

“And, uh, I guess we should really work on improving our communication if this marriage is supposed to work,” Patrick starts, but the only answer he gets from Pete is an incoherent sound that could be interpreted as affirmative.

Patrick’s head is spinning, Pete’s holding him close and now is kissing him again, and Patrick just wants to say _I love you, I love you, I love you_ , over and over; instead, he breaks the kiss only to blurt out:

“You know, Joe mentioned something about couples’ counseling –“

 

“Can we discuss this later, maybe?” Pete begs, and pecks another kiss on Patrick’s cheek. “I don’t think I’m in the right mindset to hold a serious, meaningful conversation, so, _please_?”

 

Pete looks at him, this time with a serious expression.

“I’ll do whatever it takes, Patrick, I promise. I just want to be with you forever. I want be married to you for all eternity!”

“I’m pretty sure marriage lasts only until death do us apart,” Patrick points out between two kisses.

 

Pete makes a sound that’s somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. “Patrick, please. I swear, good thing we’re only getting married once, because you seriously suck at this.”

“Just because I’m not so melodramatic--mmmph!”

 

Pete silences Patrick’s protest with another kiss.

 

 

 

They announce it officially a few days later, and Patrick finds himself surrounded by friends, colleagues and all kind of people who are eager to congratulate.

 

“Yeah, Patrick proposed to me!” Pete confirms proudly, and (badly) feigns surprise. “I really didn’t see it coming. It was a total surprise! He went down on one knee, and practically begged me to marry him.” Pete sighs dramatically, pretending (still badly) to be totally unaffected by any of this. “And after careful consideration, I finally decided to say yes.” His voice cracks at the last words, and Pete is unable to hold up the pretense any longer; tears stream down his face and a thousand watt smile flashes as he accepts everyone’s congratulations.

 

Patrick silently shakes his head, but he doesn't bother correcting Pete’s slightly warped version of the whole story. He doubts anyone really believes Pete anyway; everyone knows them too well, and Pete is a terrible, terrible actor, to boot.

Pete grabs Patrick’s hand, intertwining their fingers; and Patrick can feel _his_ ring, on _his_ Pete. That’s all that matters now, anyway, more than the details of how it got there.

  
_Plus, at least it’s not ugly._

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: Based on the irl story that my mom passed down some (very pretty) family jewelry down to me, including a ring. And people mistook (and keep mistaking it) it for an engagement ring. I decided to deal with my annoyance about that in the healthy, mature way - by writing fanfiction and drawing fanart.  
> Another fun fact: The flowers in the drawing are supposed to be peach blossoms, which according to my pinterest obsessed friends and Wikipedia mean "bridal hope" (in Western culture). Because I too like to be cryptic. 
> 
> Well, this was so different from what I usually do, and I feel kinda weird, lol. It took me five months, which is probably saying a lot about me as well, ops. Stay tuned, maybe I can finish some other less angsty stuff in another six month... 
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought - as said, this is kind of different from what I've written so far and I'm always open for criticism, opinions or anything.  
> And feel free to drop by [my tumblr](http://das-verlorene-kind.tumblr.com/), I try to post my art and fail to keep my angst contained.


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